What Can I Do With a Masters in Public Health?

A Masters in Public Health (MPH) gives you specialist skills that are essential for careers in public health, policy, and health sciences, and offers opportunities to specialise in areas such as epidemiology, environmental health, and global health. Employment prospects are strong, with over 90% of health and social care postgraduates in work or further study five years after graduation. Financially, MPH graduates typically earn around 29% more than those with only an undergraduate degree, highlighting the degree’s value in advancing public health careers.

In this guide, I'll discuss the kind of skills you’ll develop studying a Masters in Public Health, as well as typical jobs you can expect to be on offer. I’ve also looked at official government data to estimate the average salary of a Public Health Masters graduate.

A Public Health Masters can either be a Master of Public Health (MPH) or a Master of Science (MSc or MSPH). The MPH is a professional Masters course, which is focused on developing skills essential for public health practice. The MSc is an academic degree more focused on research. Both courses are either one or two years long, during which you would gain expertise in:

• Epidemiology
• Public health policy and administration
• Environmental health
• Biostatistics
• Research methods
• Informatics

Depending on the course you choose and the subsequent modules you take there is the opportunity to specialise in several areas, including:

• Occupational health
• Communicable disease prevention and control
• Global health
• Environmental health
• Health sciences

Both programmes conclude with a dissertation on a piece of independent research.

Having a Masters in Public Health opens up job opportunities in a variety of settings, such as:

• Local authorities
• The government
• Private companies
• The NHS
• The higher education sector

This wide range of employers is reflected in the job opportunities on offer. Those directly related to Public Health include:

• Health education, teaching people how to take care of their health to avoid disease
• Epidemiology, studying the patterns of disease spread
• Academia and teaching, researching, or working as a lecturer
• Health scientist, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medical conditions
• Healthcare analysts, gather and analyse healthcare data

There are also many careers not directly involving Public Health, in which the skills developed from a Masters in Public Health would be beneficial, including:

• Policy
• Administration
• Publishing
• Biostatistics

The data we use classes graduate outcomes and earnings by discipline. Public Health is generally classified under Health and Social Care and the statistics reflect the graduate outcomes of those with a Masters in Health and Social Care.

According to this data, Masters graduates in Health and Social Care earn on average a higher salary than those with only an undergraduate degree. We investigated how much this difference was in terms of annual salary:

• The median earnings of a Health and Social Care Masters graduate five years after finishing their course were £34,300
• The median earnings of a Health and Social Care first degree graduate five years after finishing their course were £26,600

This means that, on average, Masters graduates in Health and Social Care earn £7,700 per year more than Bachelors graduates – around 29% higher.

Pursuing a Masters in Public Health is a fantastic way to deepen your understanding of complex health issues and broaden your career opportunities. To make the most of your degree, try to gain practical experience through internships or volunteering with public health organisations — real-world exposure is invaluable.

Also, consider specialising in a niche that aligns with your passions and the demands of the job market, whether it’s global health, epidemiology, or health policy. Don’t underestimate the power of networking: connect with professionals and peers early to open doors to future opportunities. Finally, stay curious and up-to-date with emerging health trends, as public health is a rapidly evolving field.